Milk carton case



2 Sheets-Sheet 1 MILK CARTON CASE J. R. WEISS ETAL u TT March 15, 1966 Filed Oct. 4, 1963 FIG. 3

INVENTORS JOHN R. WEISS BY JOSEPH F. HARROP ATTORNEYS FIG. 5

March 15, 1966 Filed Oct. 4, 1963 J. R. WEISS ETAL MILK CARTON CASE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 [9w A A In] INF I I IF] 29 Jf n M H u 2.2 28b 33 f lv /2s 22 L/za [9 1 28 I L23 3 I fwwwwa United States Patent 3,240,351 MILK CARTON CASE John R. Weiss, Kentfield, and Joseph F. Harrop, San Francisco, Calif., assignors to Foremost Dairies, Inc., San Francisco, Calif., a corporation of New York Filed Oct. 4, 1963, Ser. No. 313,850 4 Claims. (Cl. 211-126) This application is a continuation-in-part of our copending application Serial No. 241,406, filed Nov. 30, 1962, for Milk Carton Case.

This invention relates generally to cases or containers for the handling and marketing of milk or like products in cartons.

It is common practice to employ wire cases or containers for the handling of products such as paper or fiberboard cartons containing milk or other food products. When such cases are received by a retail establishment, the individual cartons are removed and placed in refrigerators for display and sale. Generally, the refrigerator cabinets are constructed for back loading, with the front doors being accessible to the public. It will be evident that this procedure involves considerable labor, aside from undesirable human contact with the cartons.

In general it is an object of the present invention to obviate manual removal of the cartons from the cases or containers and the manual loading of the individual cartons into display refrigerators. In accordance with the present invention, we have devised a novel carton case which can be placed directly into a display refrigerator and from which cartons can directly be removed by the purchasing public.

More specifically it is an object of the present invention to provide a carton case or container which is constructed to permit the removal of cartons from the front the case is positioned in a display refrigerator.

Another object of the invention is to provide a carton .case which has a retention bar that can be moved by automatic means to an out-of-the-way position in conjunction with automatic case filling.

Another object is to provide an open front case construction which can be made to the same dimensions as a standard four sided case.

Additional objects and features of the invention will appear from the following description in which the preferred embodiment has been set forth in detail in conjunction with the accompanying drawing.

Referring to the drawing:

FIGURE 1 is a pictorial view illustrating milk carton cases in accordance with the present invention within a display refrigerator;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view illustrating the forward portion of one of our cases;

FIGURE 3 is a front elevational view of the case shown in FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a side elevational view of our case;

FIGURE 5 is a plan view showing the carton retaining rod used in FIGURES 2-4;

FIGURE 6 is a perspective view like FIGURE 2, but showing another embodiment; and

FIGURE 7 is a fragmentary detail in perspective, illustrating a further embodiment.

In FIGURE 1 we have shown a display refrigerator 10 such as is employed in retail establishments. The refrigerator is shown loaded with stacked cases 11 containing the fiberboard milk cartons 12.

Preferably each case is of Wire construction and is made to provide connected bottom, back and sidewall forming structures dimensioned to accommodate a predetermined number of the milk cartons. As shown particularly in FIGURES 2 and 3, the bottom structure 13 is provided with a stacking ring 14 and is substantially rectangular or square as view in plan. The side wall structures 15 are connected to the bot-tom and also to the back wall structure 16.

Although the details may vary in different instances, the bottom structure 13 in this instance comprises the perimeter wire 17, together with cross-extending wires 18 which are welded thereto. A top perimeter wire 19 is connected to the bottom perimeter wire 17 by the vertically extending wires 21 and 22, thereby forming the side wall structures. Similar vertically extending wires (not shown) are connected to the top and bottom perimeter wires 19 and 17 to form the back or rear wall structure. The rear corners may be reinforced by pressed sheet metal members 19. The intermediate perimeter wires 21, 22 and 23 may have substantially the same dimensions as the wires 19 and 17 and are attached to the vertical cross wires as by welding. The stacking ring 14 is dimensioned so that it interfits the top perimeter ring 19 of a lower case, thereby permitting the cases to be stacked one upon the other.

The front side of the case is open for the easy removal of milk cartons. Means are provided to form a barrier across this open front wall to retain the cartons during handling and shipment, and this means can be manually moved to an out-of-the-way position after a case with cartons has been introduced into a refrigerator or other dispensing cabinet, as shown in FIGURE 1. The means for this purpose shown in FIGURES 2-5 consists of a retaining rod 26. The end portions 27 of this rod extend loosely through slots 28 formed in the members 29. The members 29 can be in the form of sheet metal strips having their upper and lower ends secured to the upper and lower perimeter Wires 19 and 17. Oifsetting can be provided along the lines 31 and 32 to lend strength. For the same purpose, a rolled or bent-over edge 33 can be provided. The main portion 28a of the slot 28 is substantially vertical, while the portion 28b extends forwardly, and the short terminal portion 280 extends downwardly.

Rod 26 preferably is offset at its ends as shown in FIGURE 5. In other words, the main length 26a of this rod has its axis oifset with respect to the end portions 27 by the short laterally extending portions 26b. Suitable enlarged heads 36 are attached to the ends 37, as by welding, and serve to retain the rod against dislodgment from the slots.

The arrangement is such that the retaining rods 26 can be moved manually between a carton retaining position and an out-of-the way position. The carton retaining position is shown in dotted lines in FIGURES 2 and 3. The out-of-the-way position is shown in FIGURE 4. The ends 27 of the rod 26 are at the lower ends of the slot portions 28a, and the main length 26a of the rod is resting upon the bottom structure of the case.

The case described above is used as follows. When milk cartons are first introduced into the case, the rod 26 is in its carton retaining position, and it remains in this position during storage and transportation. When delivered to a retail establishment, the cases may be stacked and introduced into a refrigerator in the manner shown in FIGURE 1. The rod 26 of each case is now lifted with some rotation about the axis of the ends 27 and with these ends thereafter being moved into slot portions 28b and thence into the upper ends and downwardly through the slot portions 28a. The rod comes to rest at the bottom of the case in the manner shown in FIGURE 4 where it is out of the way and will not interfere with removal of the cartons. The rod 26 is placed in its carton retaining 3 position before the case is being filled in automatic case filling equipment. Our construction makes it possible to carry out this rod positioning operation by automatic means functioning in conjunction with the case filling equipment.

Cartons 37 and 38 of two sizes are shown in FIGURES 2 and 3. Cartons 37 may be the standard half gallon containers and cartons 38 the standard quart containers. In both instances the rod 26 will engage the side walls of the adjacent cartons and retain them against falling from the case.

The offset construction of the rod 26 is desirable because it facilitates construction of an open front case to the same dimensions as a conventional four sided case. Also during handling and shipment of the carton case described above, we have found that the side walls of the fiberboard cartons tend to bulge outwardly. If such bulging does occur, it does not interfere with the ease with which the rod 26 can be moved from carton retaining to out-of-the-way positions, because of the offset nature of the rod as shown in FIGURE 5. As pointed out above, when the rod 26 is moved from carton retaining to its out-of-the-way position, it initially is rotated through a small angle about the axis of the ends 27 to bring portions 26b to substantially horizontal position, and with the offset construction this serves to move the main length 26a of the rod away from the cartons.

Location of the slot portions 280 forwardly positions the rod 26 near the plane of the open front, where it d-oes not interfere with automatic case filling.

In the embodiment shown in FIGURE 6, the retaining rod 36 is not offset in the manner shown in FIGURE 5, and it is elevated to an out-of-the-way position. Thus in this instance the ends of the rod 39 engage within the side slots 41, which have vertical portions 41a and the upper laterally extending portion 41b. When the rod is elevated, it is engaged Within the slot portion 41b at an elevation above the cartons.

FIGURE 7 illustrates a further embodiment in which the retaining rod 42 is engaged within the plain slots 43. In this instance, a manually engageable spring clip 44 is provided which is engaged With the rod 42 to retain it in an elevated out-of-the way position.

In general, the embodiments of FIGURE 6 and 7 are not deemed to be as desirable as the first described embodiments.

It will be evident from the foregoing that our case permits direct dispensing of milk cartons from the same without the necessity of m-anually removing the cartons and loading them separately into the display refrigerator. In this connection it should be understood that the display refrigerator must be constructed to enable back loading with a stack of our cases, after which the retaining rods are moved to out-of-the-Way positions to permit the cartons to be removed by the buying public. When a stack of cartons has been emptied, it can be removed as a complete stack and a new loaded stack introduced.

We claim:

1. A case for milk cartons comprising connected bottom, back and side wall forming structures dimensioned whereby a plurality of milk cartons can be disposed therein, the front of said case being substantially unobstructed, metal strips attached to the forward edges of said side wall structures and having vertically extending slots, a carton retaining rod having its end portions engaged within said slots, portions of said rod adjacent said end portions extending laterally whereby 'the main portion of the rod is parallel to and offset from the axis of said end portions, said vertically extending slots having their lower extremities adjacent the bottom structure of the case and the upper ends of said slots terminating intermediate the upper and lower ends of the case, said slots also having horizontally extending portions communicating with the upper ends of the vertical portions of the slots and formed to engage said end portions of the rod to thereby support said rod in carton engaging position.

2. A case for containing milk cartons comprising connected bottom, back and side wall forming structures dimensioned whereby a plurality of milk cartons can be disposed therein, the front side of said case being open for free removal of cartons therefrom, carton retaining means extending across the front of the case, means on the forward edge portions of the side structures for slidably mounting said retaining means for sliding movement in a vertical path disposed between carton-engaging position and an out-of-the-way position, and means forholding said carton-retaining means in the uppermost of said positions at the end of said path.

3. A case for containing milk cartons comprising connected bottom, back and side Wall forming structures dimensioned whereby a plurality of milk cartons can be disposed therein, the front side of said case being open for free removal of cartons therefrom, a rod forming carton retaining means, means on the forward edge portions of the side wall structures serving to slidably mount the end portions of said rod for sliding movement in a vertical path disposed between a carton-engaging position intermediate the top and bottom of said case and an out-of-theway position, means for supporting said rod in said cartonengaging position, and means for supporting said rod in said out-of-the-way position out of engagement with the cartons contained in said case.

4. A case as in claim 3 in which portions of said rod adjacent the end portions thereof extend laterally whereby the main portion of the rod extends parallel to and offset from the axis of the end portions.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,359,406 10/1944 Crosser 108-55 2,796,227 =6/1'1957 Coakley 248-264 2,994,441 8/1961 Browning 211-77 CLAUDE A. LE ROY, Primary Examiner. 

1. A CASE FOR MILK CARTONS COMPRISING CONNECTED BOTTOM, BACK AND SIDE WALL FORMING STRUCTURES DIMENSIONED WHEREBY A PLURALITY OF MILK CARTONS CAN BE DISPOSED THEREIN, THE FRONT OF SAID CASE BEING SUBSTANTIALLY UNOBSTRUCTED, METAL STRIPS ATTACHED TO THE FORWARD EDGES OF SAID SIDE WALL STRUCTURES AND HAVING VERTICALLY EXTENDING SLOTS, A CARTON RETAINING ROD HAVING ITS END PORTIONS ENGAGED WITHIN SAID SLOTS, PORTIONS OF SAID ROD ADJACENT SAID END PORTIONS EXTENDING LATERALLY WHEREBY THE MAIN PORTION OF THE ROD IS PARALLEL TO AND OFFSET FROM THE AXIS OF SAID END PORTIONS, SAID VERTICALLY EXTENDING SLOTS HAVING THEIR LOWER EXTREMITIES ADJACENT THE BOTTOM STRUCTURE OF THE CASE AND THE UPPER ENDS OF SAID SLOTS TERMINATING INTERMEDIATE THE UPPER AND LOWER ENDS OF THE CASE, SAID SLOTS ALSO HAVING HORIZONTALLY EXTENDING PORTIONS COMMUNICATING WITH THE UPPER ENDS OF THE VERTICAL PORTIONS OF THE SLOTS AND FORMED TO ENGAGE SAID END PORTIONS OF THE ROD TO THEREBY SUPPORT SAID ROD IN CARTON ENGAGING POSITION. 